ARHS Expands to Meet Health Needs | By Kim S. Davis

By Kim S. Davis

Appalachian Regional Healthcare System (ARHS) is committed to providing “the highest quality healthcare, inspired by a deep-rooted belief that to live here is a privilege, and with privilege comes responsibility.” Expansion, renovation and new construction at Watauga Medical Center (WMC) and the new Appalachian Regional Behavioral Health Hospital (ARBH) reflect the dedication of ARHS to responsibly provide a pinnacle of healthcare in the High Country. These extensive projects will enhance and improve staffing, technology, spaces, and systems to meet the needs of patients and their families now and in the future.

Offering premium behavioral healthcare to people across the western NC region has long been a goal of ARHS. Cannon Memorial Hospital has provided inpatient care for behavioral health patients since 2008. In the fall of 2021, inpatient behavioral health services will move to the new Appalachian Regional Behavioral Health Hospital, located right next door.

With a new, state-of-the-art facility and expanded staff, ARBH will augment current behavioral healthcare offerings to address the whole person and deliver the highest quality care to patients and families. The new hospital significantly increases the number of behavioral health beds from 10 to 37, and provides additional crisis stabilization and inpatient treatment services in an autonomous restorative environment. ARBH will be North Carolina’s largest behavioral health facility in a rural setting.

ARBH will become a regional destination for quality mental healthcare, incorporating both timely and dignified processes. A $6.5 million grant from the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS) to expand behavioral health beds in Western North Carolina enables the healthcare system to address a critical shortage of access in our region.

“The grant allows Cannon Hospital and ARHS to significantly impact the behavioral health crisis occurring in North Carolina,” said Chuck Mantooth, President and CEO of ARHS.

Demand for behavioral healthcare beds has increased significantly over the past five years as one in four American adults is affected by mental illness. However, only half of those individuals are currently securing treatment. As many celebrities and athletes share their mental health struggles through mainstream and social media, many individuals may also decide to seek care as well.

It is the hope of Stephanie Greer, Senior Director of Behavioral Health, “that we can get to the point as a community where we can talk about struggling with anxiety in the same way that we talk about diabetes and working on your diet. We do that with every other health condition, but mental health is the same way. You have to take care of the whole person.”

ARBH will make it easier for those needing behavioral health services to access the care they need. Because ARBH is a freestanding facility, patients are no longer required to go through the emergency department. Adults, ages 18-64, with any issue can walk-in to the facility and staff will assess them to determine if they need inpatient or outpatient care. Referrals and walk-ins for patients ages 18-64 are welcomed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.

If it is determined that inpatient care is appropriate, patients will go through an evaluative admissions process and receive a personalized meal, medication, and therapy treatment plan based on their specific needs. Highly trained behavioral health clinicians will collaborate with patients to help them learn, develop, and apply coping skills. Individuals who do not warrant hospitalization can still receive crisis services and an action plan.

ARHS has also invested in the critical access infrastructure at Cannon Memorial Hospital, adding eight beds in spacious rooms, all with views of Grandfather

Mountain. Mantooth says that “Cannon Memorial Hospital will continue to meet the medical needs of the community by operating as a Critical Access Hospital,” while the new facility allows ARHS to ascend higher to meet the needs of the entire community, including those with mental illness.

In addition to the highly anticipated completion of the Appalachian Regional Behavioral Health Hospital, a major expansion project at Watauga Medical Center is now fully underway after a ceremonial groundbreaking this past June.

Prior to the groundbreaking, an ARHS commissioned engineering study identified approximately $22 million in necessary infrastructure repairs for the 60-year-old building, including a new central energy plant. The decision to replace the central energy plant added approximately $28 million to the project cost which is being funded from a $126 million bond issuance.

Named in honor of the generous philanthropic gift from Bonnie and Jamie Schaefer together with their family, Marla Schaefer and Steve Weishoff, the Schaefer Family Patient Care Tower has already changed the landscape on the Watauga Medical Center campus. A steel structure is taking shape, a new entrance/exit road— Medical Center Drive—has emerged and additional patient and visitor parking spaces have been added.

For more than two months, both Bonnie and Jamie Schaefer were cared for in the current facility, interacting with a variety of professionals whom Bonnie Schaefer credits with saving her life. Recognizing that the physical facilities were not up to par with the incredible people and care of ARHS, the Schaefers wanted to invest in the improvements. Jamie Schaefer explained, “The patients and healthcare professionals need and deserve a new, state-ofthe-art hospital.”

Once completed, the 100,000-squarefoot patient care tower will include fortyeight beds in spacious rooms designed for the most up-to-date technical mobile medical equipment, cutting-edge surgical suites, and a women’s health center.

According to Rob Hudspeth, Senior Vice President of System Advancement and President of the Appalachian Regional Healthcare Foundation, the Schaefer Family Patient Care Tower is a highlight of system-wide transformational changes. Additional “premier and interconnected amenities” will be added to the facility through the Higher Elevation Fundraising Campaign.

Higher Elevation is a $12 million community philanthropy campaign of the Foundation designed to help ARHS reach the peak of premiere healthcare and continue earning the Five Star Care Certification from The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The funding priorities include amenities within the Schaefer Family Patient Care Tower, enhancements to the Heart and Vascular Center, a re-imagined Wellness, Orthopedic, and Sports Medicine program, and a Family Medicine Residency program. As of August, 2021, the campaign had raised fortyeight percent of the $12 million goal.

For more information, and opportunities on how to contribute, visit apprhs.org/ higherelevation.